Mummy, The (1932)
| running time = 73 mins. | country = USA | language = English | budget = $196,000 IMDB; The Mummy (1932); Box office & business. | gross revenue = | preceded by = | followed by = The Mummy's Hand (1940) }} The Mummy is an American feature film of the horror genre and a part of the "Universal Monsters" film series. Although Universal Pictures produced several mummy-related movies, the original film is a self-contained story with no connection to the others. It was directed by Karl Freund with a script written by John L. Balderston based on a story by Nina Wilcox Putnam and Richard Schayer. It premiered theatrically in the United States on December 22nd, 1932. The film stars Boris Karloff in the role of evil mummy Imhotep with Zita Johann taking on the female lead of Helen Grosvenor. The film also stars David Manners as Frank Whemple, Arthur Byron as Sir Joseph Whemple, Edward Van Sloan as Doctor Muller and Bramwell Fletcher as the shrieking Ralph Norton. Plot Cast Uncredited cast Notes & Trivia * The tagline for this film is "It comes to life!" * The Mummy was filmed at the Universal Studios lot between September and November of 1932. Exterior Egyptian sequences were filmed at Red Rock Canyon State Park and the Mojave Desert in California. * Scenes involving the Saxon warrior were deleted from the final cut of the film. * Leyland Hodgson, Eddie Kane, Tony Marlow, C. Montague Shaw, Pat Somerset and Arthur Tovey were all uncredited for their participation in this film. * The makeup applications used to transform actor Boris Karloff into the aged mummy Imhotep was a painstaking and uncomfortable ordeal for Karloff. He has been quoted as saying that the application and removal of the makeup was "the most trying ordeal I had ever endured". Vieira, Mark A. (2003). Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic. New York: Harry N. Abrams. pp. 55–58. ISBN 0-8109-4535-5 * Boris Karloff spends only nine-minutes onscreen in full mummy makeup. For the rest of his scenes, where he assumes the alias of Ardath Bey, he has very little makeup. * Actor Bramwell Fletcher was married to actress Helen Chandler from 1935 to 1940 when they divorced. Chandler is best known for playing the role of Mina Seward in Tod Browning's 1931 classic Dracula. Dracula also starred David Manners, who plays Frank Whemple in The Mummy. * As with many of his earlier horror works, Boris Karloff was credited only as KARLOFF in the film (all capitals). * The name Imhotep is taken from a Third Dynasty Egyptian chancellor and high priest in service to the king, Djoser. Imhotep is considered to be the first architect and engineer and physician in early history. William Osler, The Evolution of Modern Medicine, Kessinger Publishing 2004, p.12 The name Imhotep was also used for the central antagonist in the 1999 film version of The Mummy, which is regarded as a remake, but is only loosely based on the original film. Recommendations See also External Links * * * * The Mummy at Wikipedia * * The Mummy at the Universal Monsters Wiki References ---- Category:Films Category:1932 films Category:1st installments Category:Black and white films Category:Universal Pictures Category:Universal Monsters Category:Karl Freund Category:Nina Wilcox Putnam Category:Richard Schayer Category:John L. Balderston Category:Carl Laemmle, Jr. Category:James Dietrich Category:Charles J. Stumar Category:Boris Karloff Category:Boris Karloff/Films Category:Zita Johann Category:David Manners Category:Arthur Byron Category:Edward Van Sloan Category:Bramwell Fletcher Category:Noble Johnson Category:Kathryn Byron Category:Leonard Mudie Category:James Crane Category:Henry Victor Category:Films with crew categories